Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has questioned calls to bring forward the party’s 2012 congress amidst initiatives designed to end infighting between his own supporters and those of his predecessor, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Amidst an escalating tensions between Thasmeen and former President Gayoom – the DRP’s honorary leader – a group of party councillors have moved to form committees to try and reconcile divisions that have occurred between the two figures.

Party members critical of Thasmeen’s leadership have said they hope that any potential reconciliation will resolve concerns regarding what they see as the serving DRP head’s failure to adhere to the party’s charter on a number of issues such as dismissing former party member Umar Naseer.

Thasmeen told Minivan News today that from his perspective, he welcomed the possibility of dialogue that served to “strengthen” the party, having nominated three persons to represent him as a committee. The DRP leader added that Gayoom had appointed representatives of his own to take part in the ongoing discussions, which he claimed remained at an early stage and had yet to deal with the key “issues” that had led to divides in the party.

“The talks have not gone far, yet if any good can come of them [for the party], I would welcome that,” he said. “It is too early to say what sort of outcome we are expecting and we would like to see how talks proceed before we make any prejudgments in the media.”

The DRP head added that despite welcoming the talks, he would not concede to calls from some MPs to bring forward the party’s scheduled 2012 congress or hold an extraordinary meeting concerning topics like his leadership. In the last party congress held back in 2010, Thasmeen was anointed by Gayoom as party leader and elected unopposed – the honorary leader’s support has since been revoked on the back of apparent professional animosity between the two men.

“President Gayoom has suggested bringing forward the party congress. Now I have my opinions on this, but I would rather not say them right now,” he said. “The DRP constitution says that a congress should be held in 2012, so why is there a need for this to happen sooner?”

Thasmeen claimed additionally that certain party members had been using the media to attack and cause further divisions within the party and that he wished to avoid making any comments that exacerbated the present situation.

Thasmeen criticism

Ahmed Nihan, a DRP MP allied to a spin-off faction of the party known as the Zaeem-DRP (Z-DRP), which supports Gayoom and dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer in their criticism of Thameen’s leadership, said that a “lot of effort” was taken by general members and councillors to try and bridge divisions within the party.

Nihan said that he rejected the label of the Z-DRP and its description as a political faction as a media invention, adding that initiatives were being taken to resolve differences within the party between Thasmeen and Gayoom, including ending a boycott of DRP council meetings.

“We are still members of the DRP and I have the same rights as anyone else to speak my mind. We are a democratic party,” he said. “As of last night, we have agreed to attend the party’s council for the first time in months and sit down with [Thasmeen].”

According to Nihan, the key objectives for supporters of the so-called Z-DRP movement were to call on Thasmeen to run the party under the rules outlined under the DRP’s charter, something he alleged has not been the case at a time. He claimed this was unfortunate at a time when opposition parties needed to be working closer together to oppose the government.

In outlining areas about Thasmeen’s leadership that concerned him, Nihan claimed that not all had been bought to the attention of the public as yet.

“There are a lot of things Thasmeen has done that we haven’t revealed to the media. These relate not only to Umar [Naseer’s] dismissal, but actions taken afterwards,” he said. “He has tried to expel members of the party who do not agree with his rule. Being the leader he should think of the wellbeing of the [email protected]

I believe Thasmeen is a great opposition leader. The MPs in parliament who actually support him are also the intellectual people who actually worry about the Maldivian situation. Get rid of Maumoon already.

As Nihan said the opposition is to oppose the government, this guy doesn't know anything about party system and democracy,"Bodu a'ngayeh otheema thalhuvaa baalanee" Oposition is there to make laws and rules which r beneficial to Whole country,, not just make laws to protect Zaeem and give him 300,000 a month allowance.

Under-Fire Thasmeen? Nice nick. We should make this one stick. The one currently in use on the Maakanaa show is just too obvious and not funny enough.

Thasmeen has the more moderate intellectuals behind him but not enough mass support. Qayyoom has quite a few intellectuals on his side as well and popular support as well. Therefore a stand-off between the 2 factions is in Qayyoom's favor. The only protection Thasmeen has is a few well-placed mines within the party's internal institutional structures. It's only a matter of time till the members of the DRP see him off. You cannot demand support, you need to win it.

For a neat psychological trick, Thasmeen should rename DRP party himself. The party identity is too heavily invested with Maumoon and his 30 year honeymoon. Thasmeen has no political future as a respected figure without him able to carve out how his individuality.

Its risky, but no more than not doing anything, since Thasmeen is sitting on a steep, muddy hillside.

Its maumoons own rules that have kept Thasmeen untouchable, its maumoons vote that put him in power. So what, we should wonder, is a "thasmeen" without maumoon? Even now, voting for Thasmeen would feel like voting for maumoon.

Many supporters of both sides of the yellow blue divide have very sincere reasons, but many don't. Maumoon's sincerest supporters are those who sympathize with Maumoon' s struggle against the brutality of Nasir, as they had been hurt or wounded by Nasir. Also, blue supporters may perhaps be the victims of the coup which killed people. BLUE believes MDP (though not MDP then but just disgruntled business men) were behind it. BUT, Anni himself was just an innocent kid when all that happened, .

The sincere yellow supporters are those who had suffered under Maumoon, either directly or indirectly.

When I think of it, the sincere guys need to be reconciled, the rest need to f

@Ben....you are way off man..what do u know about nasir brutality...you were in australia....i personally dont think you are fit enough to comment on Maldivian issues...if this government changes we will remove you from president's office job.

I think Thasmeen is playing this game very carefully. And I also think he is doing a great job.

Maumoon is trying his best to destroy DRP. He does not believe in party system and he does not believe in democracy. He still cannot believe that he was ousted by the voters in the first multi-party election this country has seen.

Maumoon wants to turn the decisions made at the last DRP congress upside down. Thasmeen should never let him have his way. The 2012 DRP congress should be held as scheduled. It should not be shifted to an earlier date. It is for a reason we have a party charter. Maumoon should know that he is the one who is unable to stick to decisions made at the last DRP congress.

It seems Maumoon's Z faction has more money compared to Thasmeen's DRP but if one looks at the crowd behind Maumoon, its not difficult to see that his supporters are mostly old women.

MDP MP Musthapha has presented a bill to the parliament. He wants Gayyoom's allowances to be cut down. Gayoom of course, does not want anything to be reduced for him. But he cannot get what he want without Thasmeen's support in the parliament. He needs Thasmeen's support in this. So he has quickly asked his bunch of DRP council members to attend DRP council meetings.

All these days, council member that belong to the Z faction have boycotted the DRP council meetings and attacked Thasmeen in every way they can. Now they will sit with him and discuss matters and issues of interest.

For Nihan et al, who are not relatives of Gayyoom, this may not be too difficult. But for Gayyoom's children and relatives, this would be a crazy thing to do. But, they now have little choice but to co-operate with Thasmeen.

@Nars is going to kick me out of the President's office, does that mean by that time I will actually be there, maybe Nars must have a way of getting me a job there in the President's Office so he can kick me out of it...

Perhaps I know nothing Nars, but when what happens in the Maldives stops hurting and effecting me, I will butt out, in the meantime, I have every right to fend for myself... As I said to tsk tsk and Kahuni...

Whether I like it or not, what happens in the Maldives happens to effect me deeply for reasons, ONLY SOME of which I have explained in previous posts. There are reasons as well that I won't dare disclose here.

I did not wake up oneday and decide I wanted to stick my nose where it does not belong, I am not that mad.

So yes, I am a foreigner, but I sure as hell did not stick my nose in, it was the other way around, Maldives stuck itself into my nose, so, even if I understand nothing, and I am completely wrong and ignorant, what is happening effects me in ways it is hard for me to explain fully here, so… I never wanted Maldives to be my business, but it is whether I like it or not… So I am sorry, but, as naive and ignorant as I obviously am, until Maldives and its systems leave my life in peace, I will continue to fight for myself…